ghost of miles

Too bad Bill Veeck's not still around to stage "Pagan Night" or some such. The Rockies business reminds me of the kind of crap you used to get from the Cowboys in football (no offense, Texas board members) that they were "God's football team." While I was never a fan of Bobby Knight, he did say something on the mark once, when Steve Alford was leading team prayers before games and asking for victory: "Steve, there may or may not be a God, but if there is, I can assure you He doesn't give a damn about IU basketball."

Is it Christian bashing to want freedom from religion? Listen, I have no problem with people worshiping anyway they choose. As long as it is on their dime and in their space. In Seattle the people voted down the stadium twice, only to have the city council override them and it was built (with tax payer money) anyway. I'm a baseball fan and I wanted the stadium so you didn't see me out in the street protesting about it, but for a multi-billion dollar industry to bilk billions from the tax payers, then turn the stadiums into quasi-mega-churches is just plain wrong. You think if a team was signing only Jewish players and having siddur guided prayer services in the outfield after games the same "Christians" would be defending this? Of course they wouldn't. It's a bully tactic because Christians make up the majority in this country. Then they want to turn around and play victim. Gimme a break! Please keep religion (and politics for that matter) out of baseball. It's the only place left where people of all faiths, political persuasions, or sexual orientations can come together and just be Americans. We're losing all the things that used to unite us in this country and it's because of the pigheaded bully tactics taken on by the dominant white Anglo-Saxon Christians who run everything and the mendacious politicians who exploit people's ignorance for political gain. That said, it's gonna take a lot more than a few prayer meetings in the Braves outfield or a few Rocky Mountain dumb shits for me to boycott baseball. I'd go coo-coo bananas without it. Go M's!!!! This Christian liberal says, "Amen, brother!"

This program is now archived. (Has been since Monday afternoon, but this is the first opportunity I've had to post.)

Cool! I'm really psyched to be on Blue Lake... and following Mr. Vega will keep me on my toes, that's for sure. My wife & I go up to the Saugatuck/Douglas area about once a year, and my mom went to Hope College, so I have some emotional connections to the area.

For anybody who's interested, our weekly program Profiles will feature Afterglow creator and longtime host Dick Bishop; it's airing in about 20 minutes (7 p.m. EST) on WFIU and will be archived within the next week or so. Brief description from our online guide: Some upcoming Afterglow features: June 9--"All Through the Night: Julie London Sings Cole Porter." (Backed by the Bud Shank Quintet) June 16--"Karrin Allyson's Footprints, Duke Ellington's Cosmic Moods." June 23--"Jim Hall's Concierto." June 30--"Small Day Tomorrow: Bob Dorough & the Fran Landesman Songbook."

Probably THE "modern" (post-1955) big band for me. I never tire of this set and yeah, I even dig the pop covers and play them from time to time on the air. Incredible array of musicians that Wilson assembled for his orchestra in the 1960s... and yet I still feel this band doesn't get as much love & respect as it should. For anybody who doesn't want to spring for the entire Mosaic, Wilson's recent entry in Blue Note's "Artist Select" series gives a tasty one-disc rendering.

Didn't you mention her in THAT DEVILIN' TUNE? I can't remember how I first discovered her--maybe through some of the Herman sides. I was very happy to turn up copies of MELANCHOLY BABY & DETOUR TO THE MOON (the last w/help of a board member) for this program, as I don't think too many people have heard those late-1950s recordings. The Hep is definitely the one to get, though--includes some of her best work w/Herman, as well as some obscure but great late-1940s small-group efforts. And her presence is yet another reason (not like we need one!) to grab Mosaic's Herman Columbia box. Up for broadcast in about half an hour on WNIN and an hour and a half on WFIU.

Sandy Tolan's THE LEMON TREE: AN ARAB, A JEW, AND THE HEART OF THE MIDDLE EAST. Also hoping, while I'm on vacation, to get started on John Gennari's BLOWIN' HOT & COOL and Ashley Kahn's THE HOUSE THAT TRANE BUILT. Regarding younger writers, I really enjoyed Adam Haslett's debut collection of short stories, YOU ARE NOT A STRANGER HERE, which came out about two or three years back. Haslett was pursuing a law degree, but I'd be eager to read any new work by him.

This week on Night Lights it’s “Detour Ahead: Mary Ann McCall.” Mary Ann McCall, whom Johnny Mandel once called “the greatest of all the big band singers,” is a secret heroine of American jazz vocal music. Little-known today, and not widely recorded during even the most active periods of her career, she has sometimes been compared to Billie Holiday and Anita O’Day for the soulful maturity of her late 1940s and 1950s work. (Musician and writer Loren Shoenberg describes her sound as “throaty and purposefully rough.”) Problems with addiction and a predilection for singing only jazz held McCall back as a marketplace force . We’ll hear a number of her recordings with the Woody Herman big band, including “Romance in the Dark” and “I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good,” as well as small-group work with Phil Moore, Ralph Burns, and Charlie Ventura, and cuts from her late-1950s albums, including Detour to the Moon and Melancholy Baby. “Detour Ahead” airs Saturday, June 3 at 11:05 p.m. on WFIU and at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN. The program will be posted to the Night Lights archives Monday afternoon. Also this week, Night Lights makes its debut on Michigan’s Blue Lake Public Radio, where western Michigan listeners can hear it Sunday evenings at 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Next week: "The Lighthouse All-Stars."

Yeah, I've been on my bi-annual Barrett kick again lately, and I'm surprised, too... I think there's also a video for "Scarecrow" (which is an eerily prophetic Barrett song).

Man... Astronomy Domine live late 1966/early 1967? Wish I could've seen THAT incarnation of PF.

Barrett-era Pink Floyd videos: Arnold Layne See Emily Play

Concierto de Aranjuez?

One of my favorite Greene novels. I also particularly liked Monsignor Quixote. i am half way through. i read our man in havana last year. any recommendations for my next greene? In addition to MQ, I would recommend The Third Man (if you haven't seen the film), The Quiet American and maybe Doctor Fischer of Geneva or The Bomb Party (a late novel). (I don't remember too much about Doctor Fischer other than it seemed inspired by and perhaps a bit overwhelmed by Dr. Strangelove.) BRIGHTON ROCK, too. One I'd still like to read and haven't gotten around to yet is THE POWER & THE GLORY.

Assuming New York holds onto their 6-0 lead (still in the top of the 9th--spankin' Detroit on the road!), Yanks and Bosox remain tied as of tomorrow's morning papers & June 1. Great summer in the making... Here's somebody else who thinks Clemens blew it by not going back to Boston:

I say we call in former BNBB member I'mtheBarnesandNobleCEO to moderate this discussion.

It's official: Clemens going to Houston

Nice extra-innings win for the Yanks last night in Detroit. Tied with Boston!

For Moonrise/Synthetic Joe, Top of the Hill/Puerto Rican Breakdown, and Just One of Those Things/Just Give Me a Man: piano-Jimmy Bunn alto sax-Edward Hale, Floyd Turnham tenor sax-Vernon Slater, Olis West baritone sax-Charles Waller For Yenta/Come Sunday, Love Me a Long, Long Time/I Don't Know What That Is, Groovin' High/I've Got a Right to Sing the Blues, You Better Change Your Way of Lovin'/Skip the Gutter, and I'll String Along With You/Ain't It a Drag: piano-Jimmy Bunn alto sax-Leo Trammel, Floyd Turnham tenor sax-Vernon Slater, Eddie Davis ( NOT Lockjaw) baritone sax-Maurice Simon All of those dates from 1945, according to Classics.

What are the titles on the Gerald Wilson 78? I have the Classics CD, which contains most (if not all) of the Excelsior releases, and can list the personnel for you if you post the titles. Can tell you right now that Hobart Dotson and Snooky Young are probably in the trumpet section and that Melba Liston is on trombone.

This program is now archived.

Happy b-day... and a certain singer coming your way later this week.

Which makes this turn of events even more outrageous.

Thanks for posting this. I interviewed Richard a couple of times about Hoagy Carmichael and Indiana jazz, and he was also in the Bix documentary that I did; always quite generous with his time, and wonderful for getting across information in a compelling and well-edited, well-presented manner. Best wishes to him and I'll try to send a little help in the way of $$.